Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans Call for Attorney General Holder to Appoint Special Prosecutor

May 26, 2010

Sestak Has Pledged to “Absolutely” Cooperate with Probe

WASHINGTON. D.C. – After rejecting an April 21st request made by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) for Attorney General Eric Holder “name a special prosecutor to conduct a formal investigation into whether a crime was committed when White house officials attempted to secure Rep. Joe Sestak’s withdrawal from Pennsylvania’s Democratic Primary for the United States Senate,” Senate Judiciary Republicans today sent a letter to the Attorney General urging the “appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Congressman Joe Sestak’s claim that a White House official offered him a job to induce him to exit the Pennsylvania Senate primary race against Senator Arlen Specter.

“From both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, the chorus of those who want the truth continues to grow louder,” Issa said. “Hopefully, the Attorney General will reconsider his initial refusal to take action and appoint an independent prosecutor to examine these very serious and potentially felonious allegations that someone inside the Obama White House offered Joe Sestak a job in an effort to maneuver him out the Pennsylvania Senate Primary.”

“We do not believe the Department of Justice can properly defer to White House lawyers to investigate a matter that could involve a ‘serious beach of the law,’” the Senators’ letter reads. “The White House cannot possibly manage an internal investigation of potential criminal misconduct while simultaneously crafting a public narrative to rebut the claim that misconduct occurred. This inherent conflict of interest is borne out by Mr. Axelrod’s claim yesterday that there is ‘no evidence’ of a job offer to Congressman Sestak.”

It was reported earlier this week in a local Pennsylvania publication that Congressman Sestak would “absolutely” comply with investigators if his claims of a politically motivated White House job offer became the focus of a federal probe.